Now that Donald Trump has spent the past three days using Twitter to make clear to everyone involved that he’s not even close to being mentally competent, momentum for invoking the 25th Amendment has grown dramatically. That support isn’t merely coming from the American people. Congressman Jamie Raskin previously introduced a bill which would allow Congress to invoke the 25th on its own. Now that bill is rapidly gaining momentum among members of Congress.

The 25th Amendment is most widely known for giving the Vice President and the majority of the cabinet the ability to remove the President for being unfit. But Section 4 of the 25th actually goes further: “Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”

In other words, the 25th Amendment says that if there’s a law in place allowing Congress to remove the President, it can do so. That’s why Jamie Raskin introduced such a law: it creates a Congressional panel for invoking the 25th. But now other members of Congress are signing on. For instance Joaquin Castro tweeted this at Raskin today: “Hey what’s that 25th Amendment legislation you’re working on? Track me down when we get back next week” (link). In fact, since Trump’s latest Twitter meltdown began, there are now twenty-five members of Congress who have signed onto Raskin’s bill.

To be clear, the 25th Amendment (removing the President for being incapable of doing the job), is an entirely different thing than impeachment (charging, trying, and possibly removing the President for committing a specific crime). It may be easier for Congress to demonstrate that Donald trump is unfit for office than to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s guilty of his various crimes (collusion, money laundering, obstruction of justice, etc). And some Republicans in moderate districts might be more inclined to support it, in the hope of avoided getting wiped out in the midterms. So Raskin’s bill may end up being the most quick and efficient way of driving Trump out of office, beyond the public continuing to pressure Trump to resign. If you’re a regular reader, feel free to support Palmer Report.

Intrigue surrounds Trump and Putin’s meetGulf TimesUS President Donald Trump, who recently suggested that bilateral relations with Russia were at an all-time low, plans to meet with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the first time next week at the Group of 20 summit in the German city of Hamburg.

After three consecutive mornings of waking up and tweeting toxic garbage that have made him appear increasingly mentally unstable, Donald Trump may have managed to top himself this morning. Trump tweeted a mocked-up video of himself carrying out acts of violence on CNN, which was based on archival footage of his past involvement with World Wrestling Entertainment. In response to the video, so many people called for the 25th Amendment to be invoked that “#25thAmendmentNow” became the top trending topic on Twitter.

Congressman Ted Lieu tweeted that it’s “Never a good sign for @POTUS when the 25th Amendment starts trending on Twitter.” Then later he added that it’s “A worse sign for @realDonaldTrump when #25thAmendmentNow is trending even higher than just 25th Amendment.” (link). Political writer Thor Benson also invoked the hashtag, tweeting that “The guy who has the nuclear codes has skin that’s too thin to handle criticism from CNN” (link).

Political insider Scott Dworkin quipped that “I’d trust Gary Busey with the nuclear codes more than Trump” (link) in reference to the #25thAmendmentNow trending topic. Keith Olbermann called for immediate action: “The cabinet must invoke the 25th Amendment, TODAY, and immediately remove @realDonaldTrump from the presidency” (link). Dr. DaShanne Stokes, a sociologist, added “Just how scared of the truth do you have to be to want to model violence against the media who could hold you accountable?” (link).

Invoking the 25th Amendment would require the agreement of Mike Pence and the majority of the cabinet that Donald Trump is unfit for office. Thus far none of them have made any public statements against Trump, effectively remaining publicly loyal to him with their silence. It’s not known if anything is taking place among them behind the scenes. If you’re a regular reader, feel free to support Palmer Report

This morning Donald Trump tried to top himself in the “new lows” department by tweeting a decades-old but very real video of himself carrying out mock violence at a wrestling match, with the CNN logo superimposed over the face of the person he was pummeling. Trump seemed to think it was funny. Most of America instead saw it as a direct incitement to violence against CNN and the media. CNN is now lashing out at Trump in response.

CNN has released the following official statement: “It is a sad day when the President of the United States encourages violence against reporters. Clearly, Sarah Huckabee Sanders lied when she said the President has never done so. Instead of preparing for his overseas trip, his first meeting with Vladimir Putin, dealing with North Korea, and working on his health care bill, he is instead involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office. We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his.”

CNN’s Brian Stelter posted the official statement via his Twitter account, emphasizing “We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his” in the process (link). CNN’s Jim Acosta also posted the official statement on his Twitter account, emphasizing “We will keep doing our jobs. He should start doing his.” (link)

Meanwhile CNN’s Ana Navarro added her own sentiment, appearing on ABC This Week this morning and stating “It is an incitement to violence. He is going to get someone killed in the media.” In the hours after Donald Trump tweeted the violent video, so many Twitter users began calling for his removal from office that the 25th Amendment became the number one trending topic on the social network. And law professor Laurence Tribe asked a question that a number of people are thinking: “Don’t the vilest and especially the most violent of @realDonaldTrump & @POTUS tweets violate Twitter’s terms of service? Does T get a pass?”

Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik says President Trump’s anti-CNN tweet is tantamount to fascism while political commentator Ben Ferguson says it was funny and no different than material that is shown on “Saturday Night Live.”

A united European front, not pandering, is the right response to the US presidents visitDonald Trump is coming back to Europe this week. The US president will first go to Warsaw for a major speech before arriving in Hamburg for the G20 summit. There will be headlines, most notably around the meeting between Mr Trump and Vladimir Putin as investigations into Russian interference in the 2016 US election continue to rock the administration. Later in the month, Mr Trump will attend the Bastille Day ceremonies in Paris as a guest of Frances Emmanuel Macron. He will not make a stopover in Britain: plans for a state visit were put on hold after Mr Trump reportedly told Theresa May he did not want to be exposed to large-scale protests. Last time Mr Trump came to the continent, a Nato meeting and a G7 summit ended in full-on acrimony, with European allies appalled by his contempt for transatlantic principles of governance. Will this time be any better? Just as he is almost everywhere else, Mr Trump is unpopular across Europe, where less than a fifth of citizens have confidence in his leadership.

Yet there are revealing contrasts in how European governments are dealing with him. Mr Trumps unpredictability is matched by European discomfort in how to approach him. The EU is on the upswing, with better economic prospects hovering into view. Despite the rallying factor of Brexit, political nuances among EU member states will not have entirely disappeared. That Angela Merkel, Europes most powerful leader, has worked hard to forge a common EU stance on trade and multilateralism ahead of the G20 is no surprise. Host of the summit (held in the city where she was born), the chancellor has long made clear her hostility to Trumps worldview, as well as her intention to leverage Europe as a bloc in opposing him, especially on climate change.

In sharing video of him pretending to body-slam CNN, the president did more than lower the tone: he once again undermined American democracy itself

Donald Trumps decision to tweet a video showing him body-slamming the wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, with the clip doctored to show McMahons head as a CNN logo, was un-American, a leading media ethicist said on Sunday.

Word To The President: ‘Professionalism’NPR
President Trump may insist he is not a professional politician. But Donald Trump has been a public figure for more than five decades. It is the life he chose. He’s been eager to be featured in financial columns, personality profiles, talk shows …

Nation’s Patience Wanes Awaiting GOP RevolutionNewsmax
The war being waged against Trump, the Republican Party, and America has expanded into the mainstream. On a daily basis, Americans experience fake news reports, witness obstruction to the point of sedition, and view mounting evidence of radical …

Syrias cessation of hostilities appears to be on theverge of collapseas government forces launched an attack on rebel positions north of Aleppo. The Washington Postwrites that a surge in fighting across Syria on Thursday signaled the apparent collapse of a landmark cease-fire that has been under mounting stress in recent days because of intensifying assaults by government forces and rebels. Backed by Russian airstrikes, Syrian government attacks around Aleppo have been increasing in recent days, targeting rebel supply lines. Syrian media reported that government forces had seized the northern part of the Handarat Camp, which oversees supply lines into the city. Reuters adds that fighting near Aleppo has been escalating for two weeks, mostly to the south of the city where government forces backed by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other militias have been waging fierce battles with rebels including Nusra Front fighters.

The surge in violence across Syria continues to threaten the peace talks which resumed earlier this week in Geneva, but it is unclear how the uptick in violence near Aleppo will impact the talks as both sides continue to blame each other for ceasefire violations. Representatives of the Syrian government met with a UN special envoy Staffan de Mistura for the first time, proposing amendments to the list of fundamental principles guiding the discussions. One government representative called the meeting constructive and fruitful.

Meanwhile, intense fighting between rebel forces and Islamic State militants has prompted a new wave of refugees attempting to flee the violence. As Syrian rebels, supported by U.S. airpower and Turkish artillery, attempt to regain the territory held by ISIS near the Turkish border, the intensified fighting has caused over 30,000 people to flee the area in the last 48 hours, the Wall Street Journaltells us. The exodus was largely caused after Islamic State militants opened fire on communities that had sheltered them, according to the Guardian. The Journal cites one American official who said that the rebel initiative to regain the territory is part of the U.S. strategy to isolate the Islamic States de facto capital, Raqqa.

After the announcement from earlier this week that U.S. forces were using cyber bombs to increase pressure on the Islamic State, CNN reports that the military has deployed a squadron of Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft capable of attacking ISIS’s ability to communicate closer to the front lines of the battle against the terrorist group. CNN writes that while the Pentagon won’t spell out their mission specifically, the Prowlers could be used to jam cell phone signals and other devices used to trigger roadside bombs, or to interrupt radio broadcasts used to distribute ISIS propaganda.

Over in Afghanistan, the United States haslaunchedover 70 airstrikes against the Islamic State in the country since the Obama AdministrationgrantedU.S. forces the legal authority to target the militant group nearly three months ago. Military estimates have put the total number of Islamic State militants in Afghanistan between 1000 and 3000, but military spokesman Brig. Gen. Charles H. Cleveland told Pentagon officials yesterday that that number was closer to the lower estimate after U.S. operations against the group. Despite the apparent success against the group in Afghanistan, the Washington Postnotes that the strikes against the Islamic State in Nangahar have done little to improve security in other parts of the country especially as the Taliban continues to pose a significant threat.

That said, just days after announcing their spring offensive, the Taliban launcheda major offensive to retake the city of Kunduz, which the group seized briefly late last year before being pushed out by Afghan security forces. Reuters writes that fighting broke out on Thursday in six districts in Kunduz province, a crucial northern stronghold close to the Tajikistan border, as well as around the provincial capital, with Afghan security forces battling militants through the night.

Turning to Yemen, Yemeni forces backed by the Saudi-led coalitionregainedthe city of Houta from al Qaeda militants. The local al Qaeda affiliate, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has taken advantage of the ongoing civil conflict to gain territory. Reuters reports that U.S. officials are considering supporting the United Arab Emirates push against the militant group, writing that the UAE has asked for U.S. help on medical evacuation and combat search and rescue as part of a broad request for American air power, intelligence and logistics support. Elsewhere in the country, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb which struck Aden with no casualties.

As the conflicts in Syria and Yemen continue, Reuters tells us that officials from over 50 Muslim states accused Iran on Friday of supporting terrorism and interfering in the internal affairs of regional states including Syria and Yemen.” Leaders from 57 Muslim countries including Iran met in Turkey at a summit for the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). An OIC communique states that the Conference deplored Iran’s interference in the internal affairs of the States of the region and other Member States including Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and Somalia, and its continued support for terrorism.

Turning to the South China Sea, Defense Secretary Ash Cartervisiteda U.S. carrier sailing in the region as part of his six day trip to India and the Philippines. Aboard the USS John C. Stennis, Carter said that what’s new is not an American carrier in this region but rather the context of tension which exists which we want to reduce. Carters visit to the region came as U.S. forces finished up an eleven day training exercises with their Philippine counterparts. The two countries have also begun joint patrols in the region.

Concurrently, Chinas defense ministry reported today that Gen. Fan Changlong, the countrys most senior commander, visited the South China Seas disputed Spratly Islands, the New York Timeswrites. The Times notes that although the details made public about General Fans visit were sparse, his visit to the area appeared intended to show Chinas determination to ward off any challenges to its claims over the islands, which are also the subject of claims by the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei and Taiwan. China calls them the Nansha Islands.

North Korea attempted to launch an intermediate-range ballistic missile in defiance of U.N. sanctions and in an embarrassing setback for leader Kim Jong Un, drawing criticism from major ally China, Reuters tells us. The country has continued to develop its missile program despite increasing UN sanctions, much to the displeasure of its neighbor China. A Chinese state media source wrote that the firing of a mid-range ballistic missile on Friday by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), though failed, marks the latest in a string of saber-rattling that, if unchecked, will lead the country to nowhere, while a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that we hope all parties can strictly respect the decisions of the Security Council and avoid taking any steps that could further worsen tensions.

The Washington Postreported that the FBI has not found links to foreign terrorists on the recently-cracked iPhone from the San Bernardino case but is continuing to analyze the phone for other information which could further the ongoing investigation. The Post writes that one cellphone forensics expert said that if the bureau hasnt found anything significant by now, it is unlikely to find anything highly useful at this point.

Despite previously rejecting plea deals, Adnan Farah, suspect in an ISIS-related Minnesota case,changedhis plea to guilty. Farah told the court that he was attracted to ISIS after he watched more than 100 of its propaganda videos, which showed children asking for help, ISIS handing out food aid to Muslims in Syria and jihadists fighting the Syrian government forces and that he was influenced by the videos and lectures of Anwar al-Awlaki, an American firebrand who preached jihad but also lectured on Islam.

As counterterrorism operations expand in Europe in the wake of the Brussels attacks, British officials announced that they had arrested at least five people. While no details on their identities or charges have been revealed, the Postwrites that a police official told reporters that the arrests were made in coordination with French and Belgian security agencies. The Post adds that British media, citing police sources, have reported that at least two suspects linked to the Paris and Brussels attacks traveled last year to Birmingham in central Britain and took photographs of various sites, including a soccer stadium.

Also from Britain, the Guardiantells us that British security officials have launched an effort to take down online material used by Islamic State recruiters in efforts to reduce the impact of ISIS recruiters online. According to figures released by British police today, Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit is on course to remove 100,000 items, having already taken down 26,000 pieces of internet content in the first quarter of this year. Despite their efforts, the figures suggest a massive increase in extremist material online.

Elsewhere in Europe, Belgians transportation ministerstepped downafter being accused of ignoring security lapses at the Zaventem airport on the eve of the attacks in Brussels. Minister Jacqueline Galant denied having seen a report of security lapses in Belgium’s airports which had been identified by EU inspectors in 2015 but later resigned after government officials suggested that the report had been discussed. The BBC, citing Belgian media sources, notes that Galants departure does not change the fact that the entire government’s reputation on security appears to be in tatters.

As Europe attempts to step up its security measures, the European Parliamentapproveda law which would make the personal and credit-card data of all air travelers coming into and leaving the EU accessible to national police and intelligence services for up to five years. According to the Wall Street Journal, the legislation, known as the Passenger Name Record, was initially proposed five years ago but was put on hold over privacy concerns. Under renewed pressure by several EU governments, a number of measures intended to bolster counterterrorism initiatives across the bloc have been proposed or approved by European lawmakers since the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

Microsoftfileda suit against the government over a federal statute which prohibits the company from telling customers when federal investigators obtained a warrant to their access private communications. According to the Post, Microsoft claims that the Justice Department is abusing the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act, which allows authorities to obtain court orders requiring it to turn over customer files stored on its servers, while in some cases prohibiting the company from notifying the customer and suggests that non-disclosure orders violate its constitutional right to free speech, as well as its customers protection against unreasonable searches. The suit is not in relation to a specific case but intended to challenge the legal process regarding secrecy orders, writes the Times.

CBS News tells us that the ACLU filed a lawsuit claiming the Bureau of Prisons has wrongfully withheld documents related to a secret CIA prison in Afghanistan known interchangeably by its nickname, The Salt Pit, and its code name, COBALT. An earlier ACLU request for files relating to a 2002 inspection of COBALT, described in the 2014 Senate Intelligence Committee torture report, was denied by the Bureau of Prisons, which claimed that no files existed on the visit. After an appeal of that response was rejected, Carl Takei, the attorney who filed the request, said it seems implausible that a domestic prison agency would send personnel to a war zone to inspect a detention site, and provide recommendations, but keep absolutely no record of the excursion.

TheMiami Herald reportsthat the Guantánamo parole board denied the prisons oldest detainee release, citing his past involvement in terrorist activities and ties to al Qaeda. Saifullah Paracha, a 68-year-old businessman from Pakistan, was detained in Bangkok in a sting orchestrated by the FBI in 2003. His lawyers suggest that their client “cannot show ‘remorse’ for things he maintains he never did.” Declaring him too dangerous for release, the board pointed to Parachas refusal to take responsibility for his involvement with al-Qaida, his refusal to distinguish between legitimate and nefarious business contacts, and his role in facilitating financial transactions and travel and developing media for al-Qaida.

Parting Shot: Russian President Vladimir Putin answered Russian questions in the Q&A style, biannual “Direct Line.” In the just under four hour Q&A, Putin answered questions about his romantic life, the Panama Papers, world leaders, and Syria among other topics. Foreign Policy has the highlights here.

Cuba’s ruling Communist Party is expected to announce a series of economic and political reforms next week that it hopes to put in place as the country prepares for the end of the Castros’ rule in 2018.

The proposals will be announced at the party’s seventh conference, which starts on Sunday. But their content and scope remain a mystery to all but a few senior leaders of the party. While the policy review that preceded the last party conference, in 2011, included broad debate by rank-and-file party members, this time top officials have not shared information with them or solicited their views.

This surreptitious approach is shortsighted at a time of change and rising discontent. Ordinary Cubans, including those who are critical of the Communist Party, should have a say in how the country will be run and by whom, without fear of reprisal and persecution.

For many Cubans, the island’s languishing economy is the most pressing issue. In 2011, party leaders promised to overhaul the centrally planned economy, but they have moved too slowly in opening up the country to foreign investment and allowing a private sector to take root. The main obstacle has been the Cuban military, which has long exercised monopoly control over large segments of the economy, creating an oligarchy in uniform that is reluctant to spread the wealth.

“If the state monopoly is not dismantled, nothing they do will work,” Pavel Vidal, a prominent Cuban economist who is now based in Colombia, said in an interview. “Cuba’s greatest asset is a well-educated population, but it must do more to reap the benefits of that.”

The type of transformative changes many Cubans yearn for will require a visionary leader. But it remains unclear who will lead the country when Raúl Castro — who became president after his brother Fidel became ill in 2008 — steps down in 2018. Also uncertain is whether ordinary Cubans will have a say in the new government.

The probable successor, Vice President Miguel Díaz-Canel Bermúdez, has offered few clues about how he would govern. His relatively low profile has led to speculation that he would be a far less powerful president than either of the Castro brothers. Cuba analysts think it is likely that Raúl Castro’s son, Alejandro Castro, who was the main contact in secret talks with the Obama administration that led to normalization of relations with the United States, will continue to wield considerable power behind the scenes.

Last year, the Cuban government said it was updating its electoral law. That process, which has been shrouded in secrecy, fed hopes that the country’s Communist leaders could be contemplating a more democratic system.

“If they embrace true economic reforms and start a process that improves the situation of civil and political rights, many Cubans would be willing to forget the harm they have caused to date and the historical judgment will be much less severe,” José Daniel Ferrer, the leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, the largest dissident group on the island, said in an email.

If reforms continue at a glacial pace, young Cubans will keep fleeing the island in droves, fueling a exodus that has become a referendum of sorts.

Hit with $131 billion worth of budget cuts and a force reduction of 30,000, the Marine Corps is being stretched to its limits, Fox News reported Thursday.

After 15 years of hard service, hard fighting, and deploying around the world, we dont have enough airplanes in the fly line to make sure that the Marines are ready to go, said Lt. Gen. Jon Davis.

Due to budget cuts and the departure of well-trained mechanics to the private sector, young Marines have had to work double-time, assuming the role of mechanic themselves.

My Marines are working 20 to 21 hours a day to get [the planes] ready to go on deployment, said Lt. Col. Matthew Brown, adding that he was worried about the safety risks associated with such a high workload.

The likelihood of a ground mishap or them making a mistake late at night, and the pressure to perform, is really where I see the bigger safety risk, Brown said.

The cuts have also impacted fly time, slashing it almost four times.

These last 30 days, our average flight time per pilot was just over four hours, said Lt. Col. Harry Thomas. The average flying time was once 15 hours per monthand building planes is not in the job description, he said.

Were an operational squadron, were supposed to be flying jets, not building them, Thomas said. One pilot told Fox News that Chinese and Russian pilots receive more fly time.

In addition, the planes that the Marines are fixing are themselves outdated and pushed to their breaking point after long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Faced with a delay to the fifth-generation Joint Strike Fighter model meant to replace the years-old F/A-18 Hornet jet, the Marine Corps has had to make due with the F/A-18, cannibalizing parts for a plane that has not been produced since 2001.

Sgt. Argentry Uebelhoer described the restoration process as fruitless.

Imagine taking like a 1995 Cadillac and trying to make it a Ferrari. Youre trying to make it faster, more efficient, but its still an old airframe so the aircraft is constantly breaking, Sgt. Uebelhoer said.

On some occasions, the Marines have had to wait 18 months to replace parts for the F-18, and, despite being restored, are still being used 2,000 hours past expiration.

Its very, very old to be flying for an aircraft, said Maj. Michael Malone. These aircraft were designed to fly for 6,000 hours.

Lt. Col. Brown lamented the sacrifice he was asking for from his Marines, considering the safety risks they faced, from exhaustion to outdated planes.

You can look a young Marine in the eye and at some point say, Hey, I want you to do one more for America and apple pie, and at some point you know, that gets old, Brown said.

FBI appoints new CIO from withinFedScoop
The FBI has asked for an additional $38.3 million in the 2017 budget to fund anti-encryption technology and research more than doubling last year’s $31 million request to nearly $70 million. They are also asking for $85 million for the bureau’s …

»Today’s Headlines and Commentary
16/04/16 08:35 from Mike Nova’s Shared Newslinks
mikenova shared this story from Lawfare – Hard National Security Choices. Syria’s cessation of hostilities appears to be on the verge of collapse as government forces launched an attack on rebel positions north of Aleppo. The Washi…

»Brazilian President Fights Impeachment
16/04/16 13:13 from Voice of America
Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is fighting for survival as the Chamber of Deputies is expected to vote Sunday on a motion to impeach her. The opposition has alleged that Rousseff’s administration broke the law by shifting government …

»Meet CNN Hero Luma Mufleh
16/04/16 13:12 from CNN.com
Since 2004, Luma Mufleh and her nonprofit, the Fugees Family, have provided a community of support for hundreds of refugee children in Clarkston, Georgia.

»The most under-rated destination?
16/04/16 13:11 from CNN.com
Anthony Bourdain says this city in France is one of the most under-rated destinations. “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

»7:26 PM 4/14/2016
14/04/16 19:27 from World News Review – The World Web Times
LINKS Mike Nova’s Shared NewsLinks How should US respond to Russia’s air provocations? – YouTube mikenova shared this story . Published on Apr 14, 2016 Reaction from the ‘Special Report’ All-Star panel Obama…

FBI taps RAND fellow as new CIOFederal Times
The search for the FBI’s next chief information officer appears to be over. The FBI confirmed on April 14 that bureau director James Comey has tapped Gordon Bitko to be its next CIO, replacing Jerry Pender, who left in August to join an investment …

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has condemned Russia’s military for flying warplanes close to a U.S. guided missile destroyer in the Baltic Sea, saying the April 12 incident was a “dangerous” and “reckless” provocation.

Amanda Bennett, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and author, has been chosen as the new director of the Voice of America, the U.S. governments largest international broadcaster. Bennett will be sworn in on Monday April 18 at VOA headquarters, according to a statement from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), which oversees VOA and four other U.S. broadcasting entities. Bennett served as the executive editor of Bloomberg News, where she created and ran a global team of investigative reporters and editors until 2013. Previously, she was editor of The Philadelphia Inquirer. She also spent two decades as an editor and reporter for The Wall Street Journal, where she and her colleagues shared a Pulitzer Prize for national reporting on how public health officials misrepresented the AIDS epidemic in order to secure more public funding and financial support. I am confident that Amanda is the best person to lead VOA through the vast media challenges of the 21st century, said BBG CEO John Lansing Bennett is the author of six books including In Memoriam (1998), co-authored with Terence B. Foley; The Man Who Stayed Behind (1993), co-authored with Sidney Rittenberg; Death of the Organization Man (1991) and The Quiet Room (1996), co-authored with Lori Schiller. “The Cost of Hope,” Bennetts memoir of the battle she and Foley, her late husband, fought against his kidney cancer, was published in 2012. More recently, she has been a contributing columnist for The Washington Post. With her husband, Donald Graham, she co-founded The Dream.US, which provides college scholarships to the children of undocumented immigrants. “I am happy and excited to be part of such a vital news organization,” said Bennett. “We are the only source of reliable, objective, credible news and information for a huge chunk of the world. Whats more, our mission of covering the fascinating complexity of our country and its people is a beat like no other.

A strong earthquake has shaken the capitals of Afghanistan and Pakistan. There were no immediate reports Sunday of casualties or destruction from Kabul or Islamabad. The U.S. Geological Survey said the 6.6-magnitude quake struck in the Hindu Kush region of Afghanistan at a depth of 210 kilometers. Earthquakes at such depths usually do not cause extreme damage. The quake was also felt in other parts of the South Asian region.

Syrian peace process crucial for Russia – Foreign MinistryRussia Beyond the HeadlinesRussian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova has stressed the importance for Russia of improving the situation in Syria. “The question of the Syrian peace process is of crucial significance for Russia. Attempts to turn this country into a …

Saudi Arabia’s king has addressed the Egyptian parliament on the fourth day of a landmark visit that saw the oil-rich kingdom pledge billions of dollars in investment and aid to Egypt. In his six-minute address Sunday, King Salman said Egypt and Saudi Arabia have agreed to build a bridge linking the nations across the Red Sea and to work together to create a pan-Arab defense force, an Egyptian idea first floated last year. Lawmakers received Salman with deafening applause and a standing ovation. Some lawmakers waved the kingdom’s green flag, while others chanted “all of Egypt greets you.” Saudi Arabia has been a traditional source of economic and political support to Egypt, but the kingdom significantly stepped up its backing after the military’s 2013 ouster of an Islamist President.

Staunton, April 10 More than half of Vologda residents say they have no idea who Joseph Conrad was and only four percent have read the works of the great Polish-English writer, but 12.8 percent want to remove a statue honoring him from their city, with an additional 7.1 percent calling for it to be shifted to a less prominent place.

According to Severinform.ru, the Conrad monument was erected by the Polish government in April 2013 in recognition of the fact that the future writer lived in that Russian city as a child and at the same was welcomed by local officials as an indication of cultural cooperation (severinform.ru/?page=newsfull&date=06-04-2016&newsid=241337).

But that was before two events which have changed the situation in that northern Russian city: On the one hand, there has been an upsurge in Russian nationalism in the wake of Moscows Anschluss of Crimea. And on the other, many Russians are upset about Polands plans to tear down more than 500 Soviet monuments as part of a de-communization effort.

The reason the Poles wanted to erect a Conrad monument in Vologda was that the future writer moved there with his parents. But as Vologda bloggers have pointed out, the family didnt just move there: they were exiled after Russias suppression of the Polish uprising in 1863 in which Conrads father had participated.

Indeed, Severinform writes, what the father did was little different from what those who fought for the independence of Chechnya-Ichkeria two decades ago and thus equally deserving of condemnation rather than honor.

Joseph Conrad personally was no better, the news service says. He fled Russia to avoid military service, hid his knowledge of the Russian language, and condemned Dostoyevsky as a failed novelist. The outlet does not note that he also penned two remarkable novels about Russian secret service links to espionage and terrorism, The Secret Agent and Under Western Eyes. Perhaps the Vologda writer hasnt read them.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, hoping to defuse controversy over profiting from his late father’s offshore funds, took the unusual step Sunday of releasing a summary of the last six years of his tax returns, but lucrative gifts from his mother immediately drew new attention. The three-page summary of the British leader’s earnings and tax payments showed that his mother, Mary Cameron, gave him two gifts totaling about $320,000 in 2011, a year after Cameron’s father, Ian, a millionaire stockbroker, died. The gifts were tax-free and only become taxable if she dies before 2018, leaving British media to question the tax implications. Newspaper report The Mail newspaper on Sunday headlined its story on Cameron’s financial affairs, “Cameron Tax Bill Dodge.” A Cameron spokesman said the gifts were merely an attempt by his mother to “balance” the inheritance sums received by Cameron and his three siblings after their father’s death. WATCH: Related video of protests against British Prime Minister David Cameron Cameron released the information after days of muddled answers from 10 Downing Street about his involvement in his father’s offshore accounts revealed in the Panama Papers, part of the more than 11 million documents about offshore companies leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca that were disclosed a week ago by the Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. Before releasing the tax summary, Cameron said Saturday, “I could have handled this better. I know there are lessons to learn, and I will learn them. And don’t blame No. 10 Downing Street or nameless advisers. Blame me.” Cameron’s financial disclosures showed that he and his wife, Samantha Cameron, each earned about $15,000 in profits from the 2010 sale of their investments in Blairmore Holdings, the offshore company created by his father, Ian. But the earnings were low enough that neither was required to pay capital tax on the gains. Financial documents The documents also showed that in the 2014-2015 financial year, the British leader had taxable income of about $283,000 and paid more than $107,000 in taxes. The disclosures by Cameron, the leader of Britain’s Conservative party, failed to quiet opposition attacks on his handling of the information revealed in the disclosures from the Panamanian law firm. “The prime minister has been forced to admit that not only had he benefited from a company that paid no tax in 30 years, but that he may pay no tax on any benefits potentially gained from the same company,” a Labor Party spokesman said. “David Cameron can’t hide any more. He needs to come to parliament on Monday and put the record straight.”

Macedonian police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at hundreds of migrants as they tried to break through a border fence on the Greek side of the countries’ shared border. Macedonian officials said a group of migrants left their camp Sunday and stormed toward the fence after rumors had spread through the cramp that Macedonia would be opening its border. When Macedonian police denied this, hundreds of migrants tried to scale the fence, while others threw stones demanding to be allowed to cross. Police said the incident took place at the Idomeni border crossing in northern Greece where more than 10,000 migrants and refugees have been stranded since mid-February after Balkan nations closed off access to their borders. The clashes began soon after some 500 migrants gathered close to the fence. Activists had distributed fliers, in Arabic, Saturday, calling for the migrants to gather at the fence Sunday morning. A delegation of five migrants asked Macedonian police whether the border was about to open. When Macedonian police denied this, more than 100 hundred migrants, including several children, tried to scale the fence. Doctors from the medical charity MSF said dozens of people were injured, many of them suffering respiratory problems, others with slight injuries from rubber bullets. Macedonia and other Balkan countries to its north have closed their borders, on what was once the busiest migrant route to central Europe. The European Union has said it will only accept war refugees from Syria and Iraq as well as those from other countries who are eligible for asylum. Some material for this report came from AP.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge paid their respects at one of the sites of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks Sunday as they began a weeklong visit to India, their first royal tour in two years. Prince William and his wife, the former Kate Middleton, began their first engagement in India by laying a wreath at a memorial at Mumbai’s iconic Taj Mahal Palace hotel, where 31 people were killed in the 2008 attacks. A total of 166 people were killed when 10 gunmen targeted multiple locations in the city. Crowds of onlookers gathered to catch a glimpse of the couple as they got out of their car and entered the hotel, where employees welcomed them with garlands of roses. In the visitor’s book at the hotel, the couple wrote: “In memory of those who lost their lives and those injured in the senseless atrocities at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel.” Later Sunday, the royal couple played a round of cricket at a local cricket academy. Kate, in a printed tunic dress, smiled and waved at people who had gathered at Mumbai’s well-known Oval cricket grounds, while William, in shirt-sleeves and dark glasses, took the first turn with the bat as Indian cricket great Sachin Tendulkar bowled a single slow delivery. After that, a young schoolgirl bowled to William, who was caught with the second ball. Kate, too, faced a couple of slow deliveries at the exhibition match, which gave her and her husband a chance to mingle with cricket enthusiasts. It was a busy afternoon for William and Kate. They met children and volunteers from three Mumbai nongovernmental organizations that work with the poor and took a tour of Mumbai in an open-top bus with slum children. The royal couple were to cap their first day in India at a charity ball attended by Bollywood celebrities, sports stars and business leaders. William and Kate are traveling without their two children – 2 1/2-year-old Prince George and 11-month-old Princess Charlotte. They had taken George to Australia with them in 2014 on their last royal tour. During their trip, the royal couple will sit down for lunch with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi. In a nod to William’s conservation efforts, they’ll visit Assam state’s Kaziranga National Park, home to two-thirds of the world’s Indian one-horned rhinos. They’ll also take a one-day trip to neighboring Bhutan at the invitation of the Himalayan kingdom’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuck and Queen Jetsun Pema. William and Kate will then head back to India, where they’ll wind up their tour with a visit to the Taj Mahal, retracing the steps of a 1992 visit to the monument of love by William’s mother, the late Princess Diana.

Ukraine’s embattled prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said Sunday he is resigning, opening the way for a new government to be formed in an effort to end Kyiv’s political crisis. Yatsenyuk said in a televised speech and Twitter comments that he hopes his resignation, to be formally submitted to parliament on Tuesday, would give Ukraine a chance to adopt new electoral, constitutional and judicial reforms and to join the European Union and NATO, the western military alliance. He said he is quitting because “the political crisis in the government has been unleashed artificially” and that the efforts to force him out have “blinded politicians and paralyzed their will to bring about real changes in the country.” Yatsenyuk’s cabinet survived a no-confidence vote in February, but two parties left the governing coalition for failure to oust him. He has been criticized for Ukraine’s worsening economy and the slow pace of reforms. Early elections could be called if Ukraine lawmakers fail to unite behind a new prime minister, but President Petro Poroshenko has sought to avoid new voting for fear of further destabilizing the country. Kyiv’s forces have been battling pro-Russian separatists for control of eastern Ukraine for two years, with more than 9,000 fighters and civilians killed in the clashes. At the same time, Moscow annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula and it remains under Russian control.

Officials: Group that hit Brussels planned 2nd France attackPARIS (AP) – The attackers who struck Brussels on March 22 initially planned to launch a second assault on France, Belgium’s Federal Prosecution Office said Sunday. But the perpetrators were “surprised by the speed of the progress in the ongoing investigation” and decided to rush an attack on Brussels instead, the office said in a statement. It didn’t provide any details on the initial plot or its targets and the office couldn’t immediately be reached for further comment. Two suicide bombers killed 16 people at Brussels Airport on March 22. A subsequent explosion at Brussels’ Maelbeek subway station killed another 16 people the same morning.

2016 candidates scoop up delegates in West, bid for NY loveWASHINGTON (AP) – Bernie Sanders is pointing to his growing string of statewide wins and Hillary Clinton to her still-commanding lead in the delegate hunt as the Democratic rivals jostle for momentum heading into New York’s big primary later this month. The Republicans, too, are trying to scoop up delegates out West while bidding for some New York love. With his win Saturday in Wyoming, Sanders has now won seven of the last eight state contests. But his latest victory did nothing to help him in the delegate chase: He and Clinton each got seven delegates. “Now that we are in the second half of this campaign, we are going to state after state which I think have a more progressive outlook,” Sanders said.

Hong Kong emerges as hub for creating offshore companiesHONG KONG (AP) – In 2009, Jasmine Li, whose grandfather was the fourth most powerful politician in China at the time, donned a floral Carolina Herrera gown and debuted at a ball in Paris. That same year, a British Virgin Islands company she would later come to own for $1 was born in an aging building in a red-light district of Hong Kong, just one example of the city’s key role in helping the world’s elite shuttle their wealth offshore. The information about Li, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, comes from a tremendous cache of documents leaked from the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca and published by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

Washington to boost mental hospitals’ security after escapesSEATTLE (AP) – Washington officials promised they were working quickly to increase security at the state’s psychiatric hospitals after a week in which two patients escaped and another two went missing. A man accused of torturing a 20-year-old woman to death in 2013 was recaptured Friday night after a two-day, cross-state manhunt that some worried would not end peacefully. “I was afraid this was going to go sideways,” Spokane sheriff’s spokesman Mark Gregory said Saturday. “I’m glad it didn’t.” Gregory gave much of the credit for Anthony Garver’s capture to a canine officer named Gunnar. The dog found Garver hiding in the woods near his family home in Spokane, then signaled two human officers.

3 rescued island castaways spelled ‘help’ with palm frondsHONOLULU (AP) – The men rescued in this tale of three castaways were not named Tom Hanks, or Gilligan, or Robinson Crusoe. Though they might as well have been. In a scene straight from Hollywood, or a New Yorker cartoon, a U.S. Navy plane spotted the word “help” spelled out in palm fronds on a beach on a deserted island in the remote Pacific. The three men, missing for three days after a wave overtook the skiff they were traveling in, were found waving their orange life jackets on the tiny Micronesian island of Fanadik, several hundred miles north of Papua New Guinea, officials said Saturday.

Britain’s ‘out’ campaigners mistrust the EU, and each otherLONDON (AP) – Tempers are flaring and insults are flying in Britain’s battle over the European Union. Leading campaigners have branded one another elitist, irrelevant and unfit to run a sweet shop – and they’re all on the same side. With less than three months to go until a June 23 referendum, Britain’s anti-EU campaigners are bitterly divided, with two rival camps battling over which will be the standard-bearer in the campaign – and over how to win the historic vote. Will voters make up their minds based on concerns about immigration and national sovereignty, or on worries about the value of the pound in their pocket?

Migrants stuck in limbo in Serbia after Balkan route closurePRINCIPOVAC, Serbia (AP) – Walking a winding path inside a thick oak forest at the border between Serbia and Croatia, Jiyan Ali cannot believe his misfortune: he barely made it to Europe across rough seas and rugged mountains, only to be abruptly halted just meters away from his dream destination – the European Union. The 20-year-old Kurd from Rojava, Syria, has been stuck on the Serbian side of the frontier together with some 200 of his fellow refugees since early March when Balkan countries suddenly shut their borders for migrants escaping wars and poverty in their home countries. Now there is no legal way for the group to move forward to the heart of Europe, or backward toward Greece or Turkey, and they are stuck living in a rundown former psychiatric hospital in a country that cannot offer them work or other opportunities they desperately seek.

Bernie Sanders was annoyed Sunday by Bill Clinton’s claim that Sanders was being a “subconscious” sexist because he called Hillary Clinton unqualified to be president.

“I appreciate Bill Clinton being my psychoanalyst. It’s always nice,” Sanders said on CNN’s State of the Union.

When asked about the former president’s suggestion that Sanders would not have said Hillary was “unqualified” if she were a man, Sanders muttered “oh my goodness” under his breath.

Sanders said that the Clinton campaign’s accusations of sexism are part of a larger strategy to present him in a negative light.

“I think the Clinton campaign has made it public. Basically they’ve told the media that here in New York, they’re about to become very negative, about to beat us up,” Sanders said, insisting that he would not tolerate it. “We have tried to run an issue-oriented campaign, but … we are not going to be attacked every single day.”

Sanders stood by his “doubts” about the former secretary of state and pointed to her record of voting for the Iraq war and supporting “disastrous” trade agreements.

“I have my doubts about what kind of president she would make,” Sanders said.

Sanders has softened his claim that Clinton is not qualified to be president, saying that the former secretary of state “obviously” has the requisite experience to lead the country, but that her voting record and close ties to Wall Street show “bad judgment.”

Hillary Clinton also accused Sanders of sexism in October, when the Vermont Senator, using an often repeated campaign phrase of his, said that “all the shouting in the world” would not lead to gun control.

“I haven’t been shouting, but sometimes when a woman speaks out, some people think it’s shouting,” Clinton shot back days later.

Late-night hosts discussed the president’s feud with George Conway and reviewed the long list of 2020 candidatesLate-night hosts took aim at the president’s Twitter feud with Kellyanne Conway’s husband and summarised the state of the 2020 race.Tweet Fighter: Kellyanne’s Husband vs. Kellyanne’s Boss pic.twitter.com/dYyDxfQy4Z Related: Trevor Noah on Boeing: ‘How was a self-crashing plane allowed […]